Did you know that almost one-third of the internet watches videos on YouTube?
Imagine being able to get in front of your audience while they are watching their favorite videos. YouTube allows you to target people very specifically, which means your ads are more effective.
Learning how to advertise on YouTube can open up a whole new world. Continue reading this article to learn more about advertising on YouTube.
Table of Contents
Types of YouTube Ads
If you thought YouTube ads were confusing before diving in, just wait until you see how many ad formats there are. The good news is that we are going to explain the important parts so you can figure out which formats are best for you.
- TrueView ads
- Non-skippable in-stream ads
- Bumper in-stream ads
- Sponsored card ads
- Overlay ads
- TrueView Discovery ads
With so many options, which one do you pick? We’re going to give you some of our best recommendations, but ultimately, you know your best business.
Widest Reach or Lead Generation
If you want to drive website traffic and conversions, then TrueView in-stream ads are a good option. These ads are skippable and play before or during another video that people are watching. After only five seconds of watching, they are able to keep watching, or they can skip it.
TrueView for Action is a good option because you can display a branded banner with a call to action at the bottom of a video while it’s playing. There’s only a required period of 10 seconds, but it’s still a good option. If you want it to go longer, you might consider a regular in-stream ad.
Brand Awareness
When you want to get the word out about your brand and build trust, non-skippable ads might be what you’re looking for. With non-skippable ads, your viewers can’t help but watch.
These non-skippable ads can appear before, during, or after the video, but the viewer can’t skip them, no matter how long it plays. The length of these ads is between 15 and 20 seconds.
Since the ads are not skippable, you can expect to pay more than if you opt for skippable ads.
Brand Consideration
TrueView discovery used to be known as in-display ads and they show up as recommended videos on YouTube’s homepage. Sometimes they also show up as recommended or related videos on the YouTube search page.
These ads are limited to a headline of twenty-five characters, two lines of body text, and a total of thirty-five words.
Segment Your Ads
Once you decide on the ad formats that will work best for you, you shouldn’t lump them all into one campaign. The more segmentation you have, the easier it is for you to track and keep doing what’s working.
If everything is lumped together, it will be difficult to see at a glance which ads are performing their best. Segmenting your ads in different campaigns might take a little extra time upfront, but it will help you increase your return on investment for the long-run.
Dig Into YouTube Targeting Options
There are a lot of ways to target ads, and the more time you take to hone in on getting in front of the right people—the better.
You’ll serve people better, and you’ll get better conversion rates this way.
Search-Based
One of the ways you can target who sees your ads is through search-based targeting. Basically, you get to peek into people’s YouTube search history and target them according to relevant things they’ve searched.
Using this method will allow you to provide helpful, relevant content to people that are likely to be interested.
Competing Channels
If you’ve ever wanted to put your ad on your competition’s videos, there’s good news. You can use competing channel targeting and put your ad right on your competition’s video.
You know who else does what you do, and you likely can think of quite a few of them that have channels on YouTube. You can get right in front of people that are already buying what you have to offer—but from someone else.
Keep in mind that the channels you choose need to have ads enabled, or you won’t be able to advertise on their videos.
Audience Targeting
YouTube offers many different affinity audiences. You can target coffee shop regulars, fast food cravers, and much more when you look in the audiences section.
If you’ve done your research and you know who your target audience is, you’ll be able to target very effectively, and your conversion rates are likely to be pretty good.
Customer Match
People love to see ads when they need a product or service. On the other hand, there’s nothing more annoying than continually seeing ads for things you don’t want or already bought.
YouTube’s customer match targeting allows you to use Google Ads to put together a more targeted approach.
You can upload files that contain emails from your subscriber list, and this allows you to target prospective customers on YouTube without any guesswork.
If you have a list of people that showed interest in what you’re selling, you’ll be able to continue to target them until they convert. This can be a very powerful strategy that brings in conversions quickly but make sure you keep your email list up to date for the best results.
How to Advertise on YouTube – Now You Know
Now you have the information you need to know when it comes to how to advertise on YouTube. With this information, you can formulate a plan that will allow you to reach the exact audience that you need so you can reach the next level.
Do you want to learn more about advertising and marketing? Keep going through our blog.
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